The Road Less Traveled By
by Norri-chan
Summary: On the run, cornered, then left to the streets, Naomi is found by the turtles and taken into their family. Learning about herself and the turtles is wonderful, but keeping her secret from them is difficult. Falling for one of the boys doesn't help either.
1. Prologue

_Just keep walking…head down…just keep walking…_she told herself, walking as fast as her legs could manage without breaking into a run. She didn't want to look like a paranoid freak, even though she felt like one.

The Foot Clan was after her. Ever since she left the Clan, and even leaked information of the clan's whereabouts to authorities.

She had served as a nurse while with the Foot. She could never master the fighting techniques as fast as the Clan's masters wanted her to. They said her hands were too gentle, so she became the official nurse of the Foot Clan. None of the ninjas showed any gratitude though, not even a single "Thank-you" was said. The living conditions were horrible too; just a scratchy pillow and an equally as scratchy blanket. That was it. There wasn't a lot of food either, most of it was given to the ninjas.

That's why she left.

But now they were after her. She could feel their eyes on her.

She weaved through the bustling crowd of evening New Yorkers. Anyone of them could be onto her…

_I need to find a safe place…where they can't find me…at least for tonight._

Without being consciously aware, she walked towards Central Park. She just kept walking through the winding paths.

The city lights soon became to source of light as the sun took refuge for the night by the time she realized how tired she was.

For once, she took in her surroundings as her stomach complained painfully with hunger, snapping her back to reality.

She moaned. A nearby trashcan seemed tempting for its possible prospect of some food. But then she saw the dark figures of a few bums rummaging through it. She didn't want to risk getting jumped.

_Need sleep then.._she reasoned, eyeing a thick cluster of maple trees, then making her way towards them.

She slumped down between two thick roots that burrowed into the earth, shivering in her brown hoodie with the evening chill.

_Just….need…some rest…_She began to nod off. She sighed; on the run from ninja thieves, hungry, alone, and cold…some spot she was in.

_Maybe tomorrow will work out…_she thought, trying to nourish the little hope she still retained within her.

Sleep began to creep into her, making her eyelids heavy and her mind dull. She surrendered to it.

It must've only been a few hours until she felt the collision of something hard impact against her left temple in a very rude awakening…


	2. Chapter 1

Another blow, this time, to the side of her face; right where a ring of purple bruising was forming around her eye. Her head hung low from the exhaustion, blood tickled from an open cut on her bottom lip. All she really noticed were the strands of her chocolate brown hair hanging in her face, and the shoes of the attacker in front of her. Her brain was so dull from the physical torment she was going through; she didn't even really feel all there.

Two Foot Clan ninjas, clad in black and with the all too familiar red headbands stood on either side her, restraining her arms behind her back. A third, not dressed in black, but with the red band around his arm below his shoulder, stood in front, prepping for another blow.

She looked up in time just to see the backside of his hand lash out at her face…then the sting of pain.

"Bitch!" he hissed venomously, kneeing her in the stomach.

She lurched as she felt her stomach react to the blow, blood sputtered out as she gagged.

How much more of this? When would the pain just stop?

She felt the sensation of being lifted roughly over a shoulder, and then being jostled as her carrier began to jog .

It was only a few minutes until she was plopped facedown onto the hard greasy pavement of a dark alleyway. She groaned and held her stomach, trying to keep another gag reflex under control.

A rough hand turned her over. She slowly blinked at the silhouette of the masked ninja.

"Hey…why don't we have a lil…fun with her?" the ninja asked slyly, his head cocked to one side as he examined her.

She stiffened, her muscles locking into a fearful vice. Do what to me?

"Nah, she ain't worth it" responded the ringleader. She couldn't see him, but he sounded just a few feet off from the perverted ninja.

She felt slightly relieved, but then suddenly anxious. If not that, then what was going to happen to her?

She didn't really have any time to think on the matter as the ninja stood up, brought his foot back, and rammed the toe of his foot into her temple.

She was immediately sent into the frightening, yet relief of unconsciousness.

She felt herself resurfacing into consciousness, her senses dull and numb from the trauma. Then she heard voices.

"Now…you just found her there? Just below the manhole?," came the first voice.

"Dude! I told you! I was shredding through the abandoned sewer pipes, and I nearly ran over her!" came the second voice, it sounded almost like a surfer voice.

There was a sigh, then a voice, one that was closer to her, responded, "Well, good job Mikey for bringing her back here…she's in pretty bad shape"

Then a hand was laid on her side, and then two thick fingers pressed themselves firmly on her neck.

"Her pulse is still steady, and most of these injuries will heal in time… it's this leg that I'm worried about…" remarked the third voice, mainly to itself as the hands lifted off of her. She guessed this was the voice of reason of wherever she was.

"Well lucky for her Mikey didn't trample 'er" responed a Brooklyn-accented voice

"Whatever Raph!" scoffed the surfer voice, "I'm the hero here because I saved her!"

"My sons! Please be more quiet, she needs rest to recover from her injuries" a raspy Japanese-accented voice advised softly.

She began to wake, her consciousness fully coming back to her. She groaned.

"Aw dude dude dude! She's waking up!" the surfer voice whispered excitedly.

She opened her eyes, and blinked a few times. Her vision was still blurry, but she saw four out-of-focus green figures and a hazy brown figure. She blinked a few more times, then the figures came into focus.

Standing before her, were four, humanoid turtles. Each had a different colored eye masks, and brown leather belts tied around their waists. A four foot tall, caramel brown rat in a burgundy colored Japanese robe stood next to the turtle with an orange eye mask. She looked around at her surroundings.

She was in a large, open, brick main room; and she was laying on an old leather couch. A coffee table sat in front of the couch, and then a large TV. There was a kitchen off to the far side of the room, and then a separate hallway lead to somewhere unseen from the angle she was at. A stairway lead up to a second story in the giant main room behind the "living room area" she was at.

Then she drew her attention to the turtle in front of her, he had a purple eye mask on. He was kneeling down in front of her, a small first aid kit sat behind him on the coffee table.

There was a silent pause.

She screamed and tried to jump off the couch, which only resulted in her tripping over the purple-masked turtle and her left leg giving out from out from under her in and extremely painful way. She cried out in pain as she hit the concrete floor, then there was the rush of movement as she was lifted back up onto the couch by the orange and blue-masked turtles.

"Please! Stay still, your leg is broken!" the purple masked turtle explained urgently, pushing her back onto the couch firmly but gently as she tried to sit back up. "We're not going to hurt you…we're trying to help you."

Her eyes darted wildly from each turtle and back. Where the hell was she? What were these…these things?

"Dude, I think she got scared after she saw yer face Don!" teased the orange-masked turtle, bumping the purple-masked turtle with his foot as he sat back on the recliner.

"Mikey, I think it was yer ugly mug that made her flip!" shot the red-masked turtle back at the orange.

"Shaddap Raph!," yelled the orange-masked turtle, Mikey she presumed.

The blue-masked turtle sighed and shook his head, then turned to the rat "She reacted just like April did." he remarked, amused.

She gripped the couch leather as the nerves in her broken leg twisted painfully as she moved her leg slightly. She rolled up her dirty pant leg. A huge festering, open gash gaped up at her. It as deep into the tissue, and was ringed with deep ugly, purple bruising around it.

The purple-masked turtle, she assumed was Don due to the surfer sounding turtle's tease, turned and grabbed a tub of yellowish salve.

"Hold still, this'll help," he explained as he took a glob of it and gingerly began to apply it to her open wound.

She sharply sucked in her breath as the salve stung like hell, but then she let some of the tension go as she felt the sweet numb painless relief.

Don looked at her, then nodded. "There, I'll put some more on it later; right before I wrap it"

She backed up onto the couch more. "Th-Thank you…" she stammered, still wide eyed with fear and anxiety.

"Miss…please, you must calm yourself. My sons and I will not hurt you," the robed rat said softly, taking a step towards her, his chocolate eyes sincere."Now, may we know your name?"

She hesitated, but then answered quietly, "N-Naomi…"


	3. Chapter 2

_ Hey everyone! Well, here's chapter 2, hope you guys like it! Sorry it took so dang long, I've been busy with lots of stuff. PLEASE REVIEW AND RATE! I need some feedback, it helps keep me motivated to write! Thanks guys! Enjoy! 8D_

It was 1:17 in the morning as Donnatello sleepily walked down the stairs to check on Naomi. Her leg would need to be redressed every couple hours to keep it clean. He walked over to the couch where she slept, the softest blanket the boys could find draped over her, and an empty pizza box sat on the coffee table in front of the couch.

Donnatello's eyes widened slightly. _Hungry, weren't ya?_ The box had contained a whole pizza before.

He knelt down in front of the couch and pulled back part of the blanket that covered her legs. Her left pant leg was rolled up to the knee. From her knee down, her leg was wrapped in gauze with bits of crimson beginning to leak to the top.

Donnie began to gingerly unwrap the gauze, trying his best not to disturb Naomi with too much movement.

Finally the whole bandage was removed. Donnatello grimaced slightly, a long crooked open gash streaked across her leg; a thin shiny, transparent layer of new skin was forming on the inner edges, the inside itself still swelled with a small flow of fresh blood. Around the outer area's of the wound, deep dark purple bruising formed an unsightly barrier.

Donnie reached behind him for a small jar of yellowish salve. He scooped up a glob with his two main fingers, then began to gently apply it to the wound. When he ran the salve down the middle of the gash, he tried his best to be extra tender, the broken bone was just right under the muscle.

Naomi suddenly shot up with loud yelp from a painful jolt from her leg. The extremely tender muscle Donnie just touched was sending painful electrical pulses, the nerves hypersensitive. She shot up with such momentum that her head collided against Donnatello's.

He was knocked into a sitting position, groaning softly as he rubbed his head.

"Ow…" Naomi moaned, rubbing her head too.

She opened her eyes slightly to see the purple eyemask-wearing turtle sitting on the floor rubbing his green head. Naomi realized what just had happened.

"Oh my gosh I'm so sorry!...Donnatello, right..?"

Don looked up. "No no, it's okay. My fault for thinking the nerves had eased down," he said, glancing at her wounded leg. "And yes…" he smiled "I am Donnatello."

Naomi followed his gaze, then gasped as she saw the damage.

"Don't worry, I'll be able to fix it, I'm just applying this salve to it…it'll help with the pain" the turtle explained, he glanced at Naomi, then resumed to gingerly rub the salve in.

Naomi winced, but then noticed the pain wasn't so intense. She sighed, grateful to escape from most of the pain.

"Thank you…" she breathed, exhaustion starting to take over again.

"You're welcome Naomi, now just go back to sleep…I'm going to wrap your leg back up" Don quietly explained, watching Naomi slowly sink back down onto the pillow.

Donnie waited until her breathing became deeper and rhythmic with sleep, then he lifted her numbed leg and wrapped it in soft qauze bandaging.

He then stood up and walked into the kitchen, pulling a large bowl from of one of the shelves. He began to gather ingredients to make a plaster mixture.

About fifteen minutes later, he slowly walked back to the couch, careful not to spill the white plaster mix. He set the bowl on the coffee table and began to dip thick strips of guaze into it, then placing the coated strips around the softer bandaging.

After he was done, he stood up and nodded at his handiwork.

"We'll talk more in the morning…Naomi…" he whispered, even though he knew she was asleep.

_Always interesting to have new guests here…wonder what her story is…_Donnie thought as he trudged up the stairs back to his room.


	4. Chapter 3

_ Hey ya'll wassup? Again, sorry for the delay, been busy, had some writer's block going on and then the charger for my laptop broke and then I ended up going on an extended vacation… -_- needless to say I never had a chance to sit down and wirite…ya know how it is. Thanks so much to those who commented and subscribed! Keep it up, it helps motivate me! Enjoy! 8D_

Naomi was conscious…but not yet fully awake. Her eye lids felt as if they weighed fifty pounds, each, not to mention her muscles were very stiff. She heard voices and the sounds of clanking cooking ware. Something was going on in the kitchen.

"Um…Don? Does this mean it's done?"

Naomi recognized Michelangelo's voice, and also the smell of something burning.

"Mikey! That means it's way overdone!" came Don's reply, then the sound of a pan being removed from the stove.

"Nice job Mikey, you burned it!" came Raphael's annoyed tone.

"Raph, you're supposed to stir the eggs to make them scrambled" Leonardo remarked.

"Ya know what Leo? Maybe I'm makin' her a frickin' omelet!" Raphael retorted.

_So they're cooking..?_ Naomi thought to herself. Well, being teenagers, and males for that matter, she guessed maybe they weren't the best cooks.

"Man…Sensei you got the easy job!" Michelangelo whined.

"Buttering toast takes skill with the blade my son" came the old voice of Splinter, he sound like he was teasing slightly.

"Yeah…a butterknife of all blades…" grumbled Raph.

"Wow Don, your doing good with those pancakes" Leo seemed to observe.

"Just the simple science of heat conduction really" Donatello replied, Naomi guessed he was grinning.

She slowly shifted her aching body up into a sitting position, her head pounding. She groggily opened her eyes and rubbed some of the sleep out. She noticed the white plaster cast covering her broken leg. Most of the pain was gone too. She looked up, wondering who had put the cast on her. In her position on the couch, she was facing the kitchen.

The four turtles stood at the counter, their backs (more like shells) turned toward Naomi. The rat was sitting at a small dinning table, contently spreading butter onto slices of toast.

He looked up and noticed Naomi was awake. He smiled at her, then called out to his sons.

"My sons, our guest has awakened"

In unison, all four of the boys turned around to look at Naomi.

Naomi blinked. Then there was a pause. "Um…good morning…" she said softly, still not exactly sure if this whole turtle thing was a dream or not.

"Good morning!" the boys chorused.

"Hey! We made you breakfast!" Michelangelo announced proudly, beaming at his achievement.

"Oh…thank you" Naomi replied. _Wow…this is different._ She looked at her casted leg, then at the distance from the couch to the kitchen.

Donatello noticed this assessment. "Hey, don't worry! We'll bring it to you."

"Yeah, you need to rest that leg of yours" added Leonardo, opening a cabinet and bringing out a dinner plate.

The boys turned around back toward the countertop as they each began to fill the plate with breakfast foods that they each made.

Splinter rose and slowly made his way to an old leather chair that was adjacent to the couch Naomi was on.

He sat down with a sigh, then smiled at Naomi.

"Did you sleep well?" he sincerely asked.

Naomi nodded. "Yes, I did…thank you, sir"

"Oh good…I'm glad you got some well needed rest."

Suddenly, all the turtles filed in front of the coffee table as Michelangelo proudly set the plate of food in front of Naomi.

Naomi looked down at her meal. There were a few strips of slightly burnt bacon, a funny shaped omelet, two perfectly golden brown pancakes, a slice of toast, and an orange cut up into slices.

The boys also had plates with the same food, but bigger portions.

Leonardo handed Splinter a plate.

"Oh wow…thank you guys so much! This looks really good!" Naomi couldn't help but exclaim. _Maybe four giant talking turtles and a rat aren't so bad after all…_


End file.
